Electric iron



Aug. l5, 1950 c. M. os'rERHELD ELECTRIC IRON Filed Aug. 27, 1945 I N VEN TOR. 0mm/ffm Patented Aug. 15, 1950 ELECTRIC IRON Clark M. Ostcrheld,Stoughton, Wis., assignor toV McGraw Electric Company, Elgin, Ill., acorporation of Delaware Application August 27, 1945, Serial No. 612,889

(iCl. 21S-25) 1 Claim.

My invention relates to sadirons and particu-l larly to electricallyheated sadirons.

An object of my invention is to provide a relatively simple structurefor an electric sadiron.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel means forinsulating the heating element of an electric iron from the soleplateand the top plate.

Another object of my invention is to provide a heating element for anelectric sadiron that shall reduce the temperature differential betweenthe heating element and the ironing surface of the soleplate.

Other objects of my invention will either he ap parent from a.description of one forro of deviceembodying my invention or will bepointed out in the course of such description and be set forth in theappended claim.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a vertical, longitudinal, partly sectional view through aniron embodying my in vention,

Fig. 2 is a horizontal, sectional view theren through taken on the line2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged longitudinal, sectional view of part ofFig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 5, and,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of one half of a heatingelement.

Referring first of all to Fig. 1 of the drawings, I have there shown anelectric iron comprising a soleplate II, an electric heating element I3,as well as a top plate I5, which latter is held in proper operativeclamped position by two machine bolts I1 extending through the top plateand having screw-threaded engagement with the the soleplate. Thesoleplate I I is made relatively light and of brass, copper or aluminum,and the top plate may be of brass, stainless steel, Mycalex or asbestoslumber. The soleplate II. top plate I5 and the heating element i3constitute the heated body of an electric iron. The iron includes also acasing I9 and a handle 2l, which handle has a rear handle support 23 anda front handle support 25.

I provide also a means for controlling the temperatures of the ironingsurface of the Soleplate I I, which includes a bimetal bar 21, which hasone end thereof secured against the upper surface of the soleplate I Iin a recess 2S therein. An actuating rod 3i rests upon the free end ofbimetal bar 21 and is adapted to cause movement of the free end of acontact arm 33, which is held by a pair of machine screws 35 extendinginto the top plate I5. A second upper contact arm 31 is also held by thescrews 35, washers 39 of electric insulating material being provided toproperly insulate the contact arms 33 and El' from each other. A springarm 4I is also secured by the screws 35 and is biased in a clockwisedirection. The free end of spring arm 4I is provided with a member 43 ofelectric-insulating material which has its lowei` end extended beneathcontact arm 31. The spring arm 4I is adjustable as by means of a rod 45which extends upwardly through the front handle support and has securedthereto at its upper end a wheel 41 which extends beyond or has adiameter greater than the adjacent portion of the front handle supportso as to be operable by the thumb and the forenger of the operatorshand. A twin conductor cord 49 is adapted to extend into the rear hollowhandle support 23 and to be connected with the proper terminals of theheating element and of one of the contact arms hereinbefore described. Iwish to here point out that the structure of the iron thus fardescribed, except for the parts I I, I3 and I5, constitutes no part ofmy present invention but has been shown and described for the sake ofcompleteness.

Referring now to Figs. 2 to 5 inclusive, I have there shown,particularly in Fig. 3 of the drawings, a heated body for a sadironcomprising the soleplate II, the top plate I5, together with an electricheating element I3 which is tightly clamped between the sole and the topplates.

The heating element comprises two metal sheets 5I which may be ofaluminum although not limited thereto. The thickness of each of thesheets 5I is on the order of .O15 inch and each sheet is provided with aplurality of recesses 53 in its inner edge and with a plurality ofrecesses 55 in its outer edge. A metallic resistor strip 51 is wound inthe recesses 53 and 55, the resistor strips wound on the two sheets 5Ibeing connected in series electric circuit with each other.

I provide a lower metal sheet 59 positioned between the sheet 5I withthe resistor strip wound therearound and an upper sheet 6I which isposi* tioned between the sheets 5 I an the resistor strip 51 woundtherearound and the top plate.

While preferably the sheets 5I, 59, and 6I are each made of aluminumwith a thickness on the order of .O15-inch, I do not desire to belimited thereto since any other metal of substantially the samethickness may be used in place of aluminum.

The entire outer surface of each of the sheets 5I, 59, and 6I hasthereon an inorganic, integral, high-temperature-resisting,heat-conducting and electric-insulating coating which may be pro- 3duced as set forth in Patent No. 1,526,127, or by any other suitablemeans, which is effective to provide an anodic coating on the outersurface which has a thickness of less than .002 inch.

Thus I may provide the hereinbefore described anodic coating over theinner surface of the sheets 5| as well as over the entire surface ofsheets 59 and 6|. Again, I may provide the anodic coating over theentire surface of resistor strip 51 as well as on the upper surface ofthe lower sheet 59 and on the lower surface of the upper sheet 6I. Thegeneral idea is to provide at least one layer of an anodic coatingbetween the resistor strip 51 and the soleplate or top plate.

I may also provide a layer of the anodic coating on the upper surface ofthe soleplate il in addition to the hereinbefore described other layersof anodic coatings.

In actual use, the use of such very thin heatconducting andelectric-insulating anodic coating reduces the temperature differentialbetween the strip 51 and the ironing surface of the soleplate Il to suchan extent that the excess temperature of said heating element over thatof the ironing surface of the soleplate is not overon the order of400919.

I may also make the top plate I5 of a metal or of a material such asMycalex or asbestos lumber, which has heat-insulating characteristics soas to retard the upward flow of heat and cause a downward flow of theheat generated in the resistor strip 51 toward the ironing surface ofthe soleplate I I. If the top plate is made of electric-insulatingmaterial the upper plate 6I may be dispensed with.

Various modifications may be made in the device embodying my inventionwithout departing from the spirit and scope thereof and all suchmodifications coming clearly within the scope of the appended claimshall be considered as covered thereby.

I claim as my invention:

A heated body for an electric sadiron comprising a metallic sole platecomprising aluminum, a two-layer, planar, metallic heating elementcomprising aluminum, a thin aluminum plate around which said heatingelement is Wrapped, a metallic top plate comprising aluminum, and a thinaluminum plate between said heating element and said sole plate andbetween said heating element and said top plate, the lower surface ofsaid top plate, the entire surface of said metallic heating element andof said thin aluminum plates and the upper surface of said sole platebeing covered by an inorganic, integral, high temperature resisting,heat-conducting, electric-insulating coating comprising an oxidationproduct of aluminum.

CLARK M. OISTERHELD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,117,240 Y Presser Nov. 17, 19141,319,524 Garlits Oct. 21, 1919 1,583,460 Hasson May 4, 1926 1,874,542Kaul Aug. 30, 1932 2,049,089 Stackhouse Aug. 13, 1934 3,124,984McCullough Mar. 28, 1936 2,228,101 Willmann Feb. l2, 1938 2,274,390Weeks June 17, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country l Date 15,896 GreatBritain of 1909

